On the 12th of September, we were lucky enough to have an expert panel share their insights on the world of Influencer Marketing for the PRCA’s independent consultant group. All three speakers came to a very similar conclusion.

Influencer marketing is nothing new in the world of PR. However, with the rise of digital and social media, the way we play the game has definitely changed. If you missed out, make sure you read the key highlights here.

We had amazing feedback from the event and thought this was a great opportunity to showcase one of our speakers, Andy Turner, freelance PR consultant, who is also a a freelance member on The Work Crowd platform.

After co-founding, and building a successful B2B PR agency, for the last 20 years Andy has worked independently as a freelance PR consultant to senior management within the industry. We talked to Andy to find out more about his experience.

Tell us about your expertise and what makes you unique in a nutshell...

I’ve worked in B2B/corporate PR consultancy for 30 years; all the main sectors, multiple countries, from start-ups to global enterprises. So can we make that a large (coco)nutshell? Instead of me self-advocating, this is what my clients have said...

“I’d recommend him wholeheartedly to any organisation looking to vastly improve the way they think about and integrate marketing, branding, thought-leadership and public-relations.” -Founder of interim executive agency

“Andy’s work has clearly led to improved market presence and increased fee income.” - Client in professional services

“Andy has a wealth of expertise in marketing and media, a keen nose for a story and knows what journalists want.” - Veteran ex-Financial Times journalist

You have worked with Phil Lewis, Managing Director of Corporate Punk PR through the platform, what business objective were you working on?

Phil’s a really nice guy and whip-smart. He’s a management consultant and mentor who helps companies build an innovation culture. His business is at an early stage and he wanted advice on getting visibility and thought-leadership articles in business and management media.

We had a couple of 1:1 breakfast sessions to talk about what was required. The big challenge for any startup founder is being able to devote enough time to PR, because they’re constantly distracted by a million and one other things.

As a PR consultant, what is your best advice for anyone that wants to work with someone of your profession, to help them achieve their business goals? (e.g. are there pitfalls to avoid?)

Invest time in writing a brief. And be absolutely crystal clear and realistic about what the goals are. SMART is a useful acronym to use: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound. Also, act on the advice you get and be prepared to experiment and learn.

Thirdly, be patient. Many PR goals take many months if not years to truly pay-off. There’s more advice in the blog post on my website ‘Some things I wish non-marketing managers knew about marketing.’  

On your profile you’ve stated that PR is often associated with intangible value, but you aim to deliver tangible financial value. Can you explain how you do this?

Intangible PR value can arise in many ways. Perhaps the best example is the intangible value of really sound PR advice. For example, advice that contains a small problem that threatened to grow into a full-blown crisis. Or a great creative publicity idea. But finance people and business leaders also like tangibles, so we must try to identify and then deliver against results you can pin a financial value against.

For example, I advised a management consulting firm to focus its marketing on client story-telling. Later, I approached an FT journalist using one of the resulting case studies. This led to interviews with the people involved and the resulting article secured new business worth c50X my original client fees.

In another case, I was on an interim assignment for a large, well-known communications agency. I secured an additional £360,000 of fee income that was at risk of going elsewhere. These are the things people remember.

Why do you choose to work through The Work Crowd?

'I love how The Work Crowd brings buyers and sellers together on an easy-to-use, flexible platform. It makes it very easy for PR freelancers to promote themselves outside their own networks and create a passive new business pipeline.

The Work Crowd does most of the ‘heavy lifting’ and all the marketing to prospective clients.

What’s not to like?’ - Andy Turner

If you’re looking to scale your business , work with Andy or a  freelance PR consultant like him, get in touch today, we’d love to talk to you! Get in touch on 0203 828 8440 or drop us a line today.